The invention relates to an implanter for implanting an implant in an animate being, the implanter a housing mounting one end of a hollow injection needle is mounted and a plunger in the housing adapted to extend into the hollow needle from the one end of the hollow injection needle that is mounted in the housing.
Such an implanter is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,493 and can be used for implanting via the hollow injection needle a usually cylindrical implant, containing for instance a medicinal preparation or an electronic circuit for remote detection, in animate beings, such as cattle.
A drawback of the known implanter is that two different operations are required for introducing the injection needle and subsequently introducing the implant into the body of an animate being via the injection needle. First the injection needle is stuck into the body and then the implant is introduced into the body via the injection needle by means of a plunger. On the one hand, this takes relatively much time, which may pose a problem, an animal during treatment being somewhat excited as it is and hence being capable of jerky movements. Moreover there is a real chance that the person who carries out the implantation, for the very reason of carrying out the operation as swiftly as possible, retracts the needle too soon, i.e. before the needle has been introduced deep enough, or that the animal recoils somewhat precisely during the operation. The depth at which the implant is lodged in the body may then be undesirably small, there being a chance the animal will lose the implant. This is particularly important when the implant contains an identification chip which is to remain in the body for a long time.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,267 discloses an implanter which comprises a plunger fixedly mounted in the housing and a hollow injection needle movable relatively to the plunger. After having been introduced into the body of for instance an animal, the injection needle is manually retracted into the housing with the fixed plunger retaining an implant disposed in the injection needle, so that it remains behind in the body. This known device, too, involves the risk of the needle being retracted too soon, as a result of which the implant is not properly introduced.
It is observed that U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,626 discloses a device for injecting fluids into cattle by means of an injection needle, the device comprising bar-shaped driving means which in operation force the fluid to be injected into the injection needle but which are normally arrested in an inoperative position. The device further comprises a feeler mounted with a spring and extending beyond the tip of the injection needle, which upon introduction of the injection needle into the body of an animal moves in a rearward direction relatively to the injection needle and thus unlocks the driving means. Under the influence of the force exerted by a coil spring the driving means then force the fluid to be injected into the injection needle.
In this known device the driving means are unlocked when the injection needle has only barely, if at all, penetrated the animal's skin. Moreover, the driving means are designed to actually force the fluid to be injected through the injection needle introduced into the body, which takes some time. Accordingly, in this known device, too, there is a real chance that the injection needle is retracted too soon and the injection operation will not have the desired result.